Obama gets lowest marks from Utahns

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Utah gave President Barack Obama his lowest approval rating in the nation in 2011 and in the past year it only dipped further, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

Tracking polls in 2012 revealed that only 27.9 percent of Utah residents approve of the president, down from 28.6 percent in 2011. On the flip side, Obama received an 84.2 percent rating in the District of Columbiathe highest in the nation. Nationwide, the president received a 48 percent approval rating.

The poll largely matches a state-by-state breakdown of 2012 election results. So it should come as no surprise that deeply conservative Utah also gave the president his lowest election tally, which was 24.8 percent. It didn't help that he was up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a prominent Mormon.

Utah's neighbors were more approving, by margins both large and small. Obama won two Rocky Mountain states, though less than half the residents there thought he was doing a good job. Nevada residents gave him 46.3 percent and Colorado 46 percent. After Utah, Wyoming gave Obama his second lowest marks at 28.5 percent and he didn't fare much better in Idaho either, where he got 34.2 percent. The president saw big jumps from last year in his approval rating in states like Colorado (5.6 percent, the fifth highest jump) and Idaho (4.9 percent).

While the president may have experienced small improvement in his regional popularity, the majority of Utahns continue to give him a pretty clear thumbs down.